BIOS spontaneous reset

Question

Hi all (hopefully Chris-M!) For the second time today my XPS710 at startup loaded with the BIOS (BY ITSELF) reset to factory defaults. I shut down yesterday normally and at boot today my front panel lights were on (I had changed them previously to be off), the BIOS looked for a floppy ('floppy diskette seek failure, strike F1 to continue, F2 to run startup utility') (and you all know the XPS710 doesn't have a floppy) and most disturbing, my RAID had been disabled. Fortunately I recognized this as a BIOS problem as it happened before (a week ago)(and at that time I didn't know what was happening so continued using the computer and destroyed my RAID, needing to rebuild it thereafter). I went into the BIOS, changed the default drive setting from on to RAID, changed the onboard Diskette default, (changed the chassis LED color default from diamond to off, turned back on overclocking) and am now running normally. I contacted Dell XPS support and the tech had no suggestions. Quite clearly it is as if I had gone into the BIOS setup, done 'restore factory defaults' and then booted up. But I didn't! No-one else has access to my computer. There were no power outages in the 16 hours my computer was off between yesterday and today and even if there were, it shouldn’t be a battery failure as my machine is only three months old. Does anyone have any idea how the BIOS can reset itself spontaneously? My specs are Q6600, BIOS 1.4.1, Dual boot WinXP/ubuntu.

cademetz · Answer

Even though the system is new, I would still lean towards it being a bad battery. It could just be you got unlucky and got a lemon for a battery. I think the CMOS battery is just a fairly standard battery should be able to get at a grocery store or Radio Shack; it also shouldn't be very expensive. I would give that a try if no one else has any ideas.

lyonadmiral · Answer

I concur it is most likely a faulty CMOS battery, however just so you know this type of error can also be caused by a short in the system.  Replace the battery, as Cadmetz mentioned they are available for less than 10 dollars maximium at Radio Shack and at most stores that carry watch batteries.   -Dan

sdhog2002 · Answer

Thank you both, cademetz and Dan. Thought I should confirm for you that I have NOT lost my system clock settings at all. Battery failure was an obvious issue I considered early on. Not that I absolutely exclude it. Will see if anyone else comes up with anything.

sdhog2002 · Answer

My BIOS just reset itself again, this time (as it did on the first occasion) on a system Restart. Quite sure it is not a battery fault.

lyonadmiral · Answer

Then there is a short either on the system board itself or between the system board plate and the chassis.  If the system is under warranty which I am assuming it is not, have Dell send you a replacement motherboard.    -Dan

sdhog2002 · Answer

Thank you Dan, I will give XPS support another go. Fortunately I have on the computer log (accessed through the BIOS) CMOS checksum error clearly documented for each occassion this has occurred. Sid

sdhog2002 · Answer

Once again, thank you. Dell support (I am in Australia), without much prompting, have suggested they come out and replace my motherboard. So that should solve it! Thanks Dell. Just to clarify my first post, the only reason I enabled overclocking was to allow me to change the LED settings on the case - I only discovered I could do that throught the BIOS afterward. I haven't 'overclocked' my machine. I have difficulties with nTune, but that is a separate issue. One question I do have tho' is that my computer now has a PCI device in my hardware settings, but it cannot find a driver. I did delete it with no change to the computer's performance but when I restarted, it found it again and still cannot find a driver. Do any of you have a PCI device with a yellow question mark next to it on your hardware list?

tonypaulina · Answer

Has this problem been resolved? I have A dell XPS 710 that I later upgraded to an XPS720. I've been having this intermittent BIOS CMOS Checksum problem from the first week that I bought the XPS (June 2007). I got the XPS 720 motherboard (about a week ago, mid Sept 2007), and belive it or not the CMOS Checksum error continues to occur. By replacing the motherboard I've also replaced the CMOS battery. I contact Dell support and got nowhere...

sdhog2002 · Answer

Hi Tony Not sure! Dell replaced the MB (obviously including the battery) and the first time the tech saved the BIOS it reverted back to the default settings! He re-did it, checked it once and then left. Later that night the same thing happened again. Do you have ubuntu on your machine? The reason I ask is that I do and I wonder whether that has anything to do with it. I found a thread on the ubuntu forums and bug page which related to a previous version of ubuntu and Dell laptops. I have been programming computers for 21 years but am new to ubuntu/linux and don't ask me how, but that thread was a result of a bug that allowed ubuntu to alter the BIOS. I always thought BIOS was far too early in the process to be affected by software, even an OS. I am hoping that is the issue. I have reinstalled ubuntu but without the 'extras' I had (Beryl and AWN) and so far, so good. Am watching this with anticipation. I'd be very interested in your circumstances. Sid

tonypaulina · Answer

When the system had the 710 system board I was running 32bit vista. After i got the 720 system board I installed 64bit vista. That said, I'm convinced the problem has nothing to do with the operating system installed. I'm purchasing my own battery to replace the 'new' CMOS battery that shipped on the 720 board to eliminate that as the cause. I firmly believe the problem is power supply related, but have not been able to convince dell support to send me a replacement power supply. Which ticks me off to no end, because the tech on the phone mentioned how they couldn't authorize sending out an expensive power supply for a system that is only 4 months old (and which I paid for hardware support for 4 years)... forgive me, i get angry everytime i bring this up. So, i'll replace the battery, waste my time running the full diagnostics test and then i'll call them back... if i still fail to get any satisfaction through the XPS support line, i'll start 'leaning' on my company's sales rep (my company buys dell servers, laptops, and desktops) to try and get somewhere...

sdhog2002 · Answer

Tony, I will keep you updated. So far no repeat of the problem. I am also a big commercial user of Dell products so hadn't considered that route if the problem persists. In Australia we seem to have quite helpful (if not always knowledgeable) support! Sid

tonypaulina · Answer

I got a new battery from Radio Shack - Problem still occurred. I took the system apart again, I found a Y-cable power splitter with some of the insulation exposing the wire - i replaced that cable. I've also ran the diagnostics tests for about 9hrs... so far the last two days it's turned on correctly

sdhog2002 · Answer

Keeping fingers crossed for you. I haven't had a problem since reimaging my XP drive (with an image taken when I initially loaded all my software) and re-installing ubuntu (without the add-ons I mentioned previously). Don't forget that I had the reset of the BIOS twice after the MoBo was replaced (and I have the CMOS checksum error note in the BIOS log to remind me of them!) but that was before I replaced software as noted. I have been trawling the internet for the last week trying to find a reason/explanation. I must admit your thought of a PSU problem was intuitive, and the upset cable might justify that thought. I just don't know how software can cause this problem, which seems to be the case with me - I've done nothing to my hardware. Would love to know the reason.

tonypaulina · Answer

well it's been more than two weeks - i think it was the y-cable after all. I've only had one instance of the CMOS reset, and that was because i turned the system back on immediately after it was powered off instead of waiting a minute or two... (that seems to be a quirk in the system, but i'll live with that)...

sdhog2002 · Answer

Same here - no resets since I reloaded my ubuntu. A new test will come up in the next few days because the next release of ubuntu comes out and I will upgrade and replace some of those add-ons I mentioned. I suppose if I really had the time I should just reload what I thought was causing the problem in the first place and see if I can reproduce it. May well do that before I upgrade, but can't promise. So, the state of play at the moment is yours seems to have been a hardware fault and mine seems to have been software. Good luck with your projects! Sid

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